Regardless of whether the disaster was natural or manmade, the main point was that the lethal explosions had given Liu Zilang and Misaka Mikoto a ray of hope in surviving past the circle.
Among the three firebases that had attacked them earlier, Long Shenjue was the one who had been outright killed.
SSR had been knocked out, and his teammate was most likely reviving him at that moment. Only Karl and his teammate were left targeting Liu Zilang and Misaka Mikoto.
The weapon slung on Liu Zilang’s back was an SKS that had been looted from Li Muqiu.
The two people were safe from Heavenly Fire as they were positioned in a building. That was why they were so brash in attacking them.
The seemingly perilous moment was the perfect opportunity for Liu Zilang and Misaka Mikoto to break out of their predicament.
If they continued to linger at their original positions, SSR would be revived soon, and they would once again be under the threat of two separate teams!
After thinking about it, Liu Zilang made a resolute decision and told Misaka Mikoto, “I’ll count to three, then we’ll run!”
“Hm, hm!” Misaka Mikoto immediately displayed obedience.
“One!
“Two!
“Three! Run!”
Liu Zilang had just finished giving the command when Misaka Mikoto sprung into action like a rabbit.
Swish swish swish~!
A hail of bullets assailed her. Frightened, she immediately did a snake dance to dodge the bullets.
However, Misaka Mikoto suddenly realized that something was amiss!
‘Where’s Shifu!?’
She glanced at the map, and her cheeks puffed up like a bao.
Liu Zilang, who had given her the command earlier, was still hiding behind the tree. He had not moved an inch.
Splat!
A stray bullet hit Misaka Mikoto’s body. She let out a cry of surprise and then grumbled quietly to herself, “Hmph! Shifu betrayed me again!”
Liu Zilang did not offer an explanation.
It looked like he had betrayed her on the surface… Well, he had actually betrayed her after all.
However, after Liu Zilang tap-fired an extremely fast volley of bullets with his SKS from behind the tree, the situation on the battlefield changed drastically.
Karl and his teammate quickly realized that their real enemy was not the one running but the one hiding behind the tree.
There was no other reason.
Even though Liu Zilang had not exposed himself, his tap-fire with the SKS was very fast and very accurate!
In between the muzzle flashes that came from the window of the building, he fired a string of bullets.
With a bang, the glass panel in front of them shattered explosively!
Liu Zilang’s crosshair drew a ‘Z’ as he speedily tapped his mouse. It had suppressed both his opponents’ fire.
On the tournament big screen, the caster had had the camera focused on the red zone ever since Misaka Mikoto had summoned Heavenly Fire.
The live audience members and live stream viewers were thinking of how shameless Liu Zilang was for betraying his disciple. However, after they had watched the scene unfold, their disgust turned into stunned admiration!
“What the! You can pull an SKS like that? I submit to Vic’s sniping skills!”
“Even though he’s a bastard, I have to admit that he’s the all-rounded king!”
“Maybe we misunderstood him? Vic actually sacrificed his safety to ensure that Menhera-chan would enter the circle safely?”
“Boo hoo hoo, that’s so f*cking touching! Cry! Everyone, cry for him!”
“Before you cry, do you even believe what you’re saying?”
“Um… I actually don’t believe myself.”
“…”
Behind the tree, Liu Zilang noticed that there was a reprieve in their gunfire. After having been suppressed, they had switched their target to Liu Zilang and were ignoring Misaka Mikoto.
He felt so f*cked right then!
He was speechless as he watched his silly disciple run in a straight line with her head ducked down.
‘You… You… You’re ignoring her?”
‘But she doesn’t have any cover!
‘She’s escaping the blue circle!
‘Not to mention, she’s on a straight path! Don’t you want to test your skills?
‘What if you score a headshot?’
However, Karl and his teammate gave no verbal answer. Their silence told Liu Zilang that they only had one target.
That was him!
Liu Zilang felt like crying but tears would not come out.
If they had fired at Misaka Mikoto, he could have provided her with covering fire.
However, since his opponents were aiming at him, he could not confront them directly with just an SKS.
More importantly, once SSR who was diagonally in front of him had been revived, he would have to face the concentrated firepower of four people!
Liu Zilang could only feel pangs of regret as he watched Misaka Mikoto run away peacefully!
‘I should have ran alongside that silly little girl!’
While Liu Zilang was beating himself, the caster’s camera showed new developments in the red zone through God’s perspective.
The red circle on the map had dissipated, and the explosions were gradually coming to a stop. A lone wolf was traveling along the path Liu Zilang had taken earlier.
That person trodded carefully on the path until he was diagonally in front of Liu Zilang. He was also being suppressed by the two teams in front of him.
“Oh! It’s Kim Doohwan!” Lord Rong cried out in surprise on the commentary platform.
“Hm, I think his teammate was killed in the second circle earlier. He’s alone now.” Ruo Feng rubbed his chin as he continued, “If Kim Doohwan forms an ‘alliance’ with Vic, they might have a chance of overcoming this obstacle.”
“Alliance? Cough cough…” Su Changming could not help but laugh. “Pardon my frankness, but unless Kim Doohwan is as forgiving as how the ocean contains water, otherwise… forget about it.”
“I don’t think it’s impossible though,” Lord Rong interjected as he rubbed the bristles on his chin, “Think about it. Vic has not exposed his identity yet, and Kim Doohwan doesn’t know that he’s right beside him. If his goal is to enter the safe zone, then the best choice for him would be to form an alliance with Vic!”
“Oh? It sounds pretty plausible if you put it that way!”
In the game, Kim Doohwan was hiding behind a different three. In his hands was a Kar98K.
After the unfortunate accident that had took place in the previous match, and after having painfully lost his teammate in that match, he had no illusions of him winning the chicken dinner. All he had in his mind was that trading his life for a kill was nice, and two was a bonus.
Undoubtedly, he had transformed into an emotionless assassin!
If he could be the one to kill off ‘that person’…
Kim Doohwan would feel that his trip to California was all worth it!
He observed the situation of the battlefield from behind the tree and quickly discerned what was going on.
From his position, he could deliver the perfect sneak attack onto Liu Zilang.
However, his position had not yet been exposed to his opponents.
His ‘first shot’ was exceptionally precious to him.
Once he opened fire and exposed his position, he could only score one more kill from the person whose back was faced toward him. In turn, he would be blocked from advancing, and he would take Liu Zilang’s place.
Kim Doohwan’s eyes shined as he made his decision.
Before he met with that person once more…
He, could not die!
…